10 Easy Exercises for Beginners You Must Try

You don't need to be an athlete, or train like one to gain the benefits of physical activity, especially when you're just starting out.

10 Easy Workouts for Beginners You Must Try

You don't need to be an athlete, or train like one to gain the benefits of physical activity. Easy workouts for beginners are better choices when you're just starting out. You can do them at home, outdoors or even in a gym, there are no hard and fast rules here.

Easy workouts for beginners, especially those who have yet to start, and those who have started but 'fallen off the wagon' for whatever reason, or those who have taken the plunge and are trying to maintain momentum, are designed to build confidence, familiarity with the basic ways the body moves, and create healthy life-long habits.

I'm sure you've heard on social media, from your doctor, from friends or your neighborhood fitness professional that research has overwhelmingly shown that regular exercise can help your weight loss efforts, cut inches off your waist and hips, lift your mood, boost your mental health, lower your disease risk, lower your fall risk, help you sleep better, maintain good energy levels, strengthen your bones..... and the list goes on.

We don't need to get into that here.

Suffice it to say, exercise has a powerful effect and can help improve your life.

Importance of Basic Workouts for Beginners

To recap: regular workouts have been shown to improve your health significantly. Its primary benefits include helping you achieve and maintain healthy body weight, muscle mass and reducing your risk for chronic diseases.

But...you DO NOT and SHOULD NOT have to start out heavy or crazy strenuous!

See the next section for some basic movements you can try. None of them are simple, but they are basic and form the foundation of just about every exercise movement on the planet. The more challenging movements are at the end.

10 Easy Starter Exercises to Try at Home

Let's get straight to the point: you can exercise at home – and get a good workout in – using your bodyweight or simple pieces of equipment such as dumbbells, bands, or even a suspension trainer. Even as you grow stronger and fitter, by increasing your repetitions or simply slowing down – or speeding up – the tempo of your exercises, you can progress your workouts and their effectiveness. Start by familiarizing yourself with the movements and don't worry about how many you're doing at first.

1. Squat to Chair

This important foundational movement is basic but effective. Stand facing away from chair. Bend at the hip, knees and ankles and lower yourself down to chair. Tap chair or sit. Stand up and repeat. Your arms can be up in the air as pictured, or you can have your hands on your hips, or any other way most comfortable. Just don't push your hands into your thighs or your knees to get up.

2. Bodyweight Step-Ups

Stand facing step/platform/bench. Keep your ribs down. Try not to arch your back as you're moving. Step up with one leg while keeping your hips evenly facing the step. Keep your weight rooted through your heel as you go. Then step up with the other leg without rotating your hips open or arching your back.

Step off the platform the same way you came up.

3. Elevated Push-ups

Place hands on an elevated surface depending on your level (use a wall if you are an absolute beginner) just below shoulder height, shoulder width apart. Rise onto balls of feet, bend elbows, lower body down, then straighten your elbows as you push your body away.

4. Banded 'No-Money' Pulls

Stand with your chest high, abs engaged and ribs down to help prevent your back from arching. Grasp a band (or dumbbells) with your palms facing up. Pull the band apart squeezing your shoulder blades together and keeping your elbows close to your body as you go in and out.

5. Glute Bridges

Lie on the floor with your knees bent, feet flat, and arms extended - with your feet parallel to each other and about hip distance apart. Press the feet, upper arms, elbows and hands into the floor. Keep pressing, then inhale and lift your pelvis, lower back and if possible, the bottoms of the shoulder blades up off the floor. Keep pressing and lifting - while trying to avoid pushing up through the hip joints. Instead, imagine extending the knees away from the body by dragging your mat towards you with your heels. Breathe and hold the position, then exhale and slowly lower back down to the starting position.

6. Modified 'Bicycles'

Lie on your back and place a small towel roll behind your head/neck if necessary. If not using towel roll, lift head slightly, bend one knee and draw it towards your chest in with your hands. Then as you release the bent leg start bending the other knee and draw it toward you. Straighten the first leg as you draw the second bent leg in. Make sure you feel stretch in the front of the hip when that leg is straight.

7. Seated Chest Opener

Brace the back of a chair against a wall, or put it on a sticky mat. Ideally, sit on the front edge of the chair, reach your hands behind your back, placing your palms on the edge of the seat, fingers pointing sideways. Press the palms of your hands into the seat of the chair, while gently lifting your chin away from your chest slightly. Rotate your upper arms outward as you move your shoulder blades closer together, allowing the chest to expand. Try to keep your arms straight throughout. Hold this position for up to one minute, breathing easily. Slowly release on an exhale.

8. Assisted Lunges

Step forward with your right leg, putting the weight into your heel. Bend the right knee, lowering down, aiming for it to be parallel to the floor. That's the lunge position. Pause for a beat. Step back with the right leg, then move your left leg forward, repeating the same movement. Place your hand on a chair or counter for support as needed

9. Elbow Planks

This is similar to a standard plank on your elbows, but it can be more challenging. Once you are in position (exactly like the graphic), squeeze your arms, core, butt and legs to build tension. Try to keep a neutral spine and your shoulders relaxed down throughout. Work up to 3 30 second holds.

10. Cardio

This is obviously not a single exercise movement but getting in cardio is important, and there are an infinite number of ways you can modify cardio to suit your level, location, time constraints, preferences and budget. There benefits if cardio are too numerous to mention here, but interestingly multiple research studies support the idea that following a training session with cardiovascular work enhances the learning process.

Learn gentle starter workouts from the experts

Achieving lasting body transformation doesn't have to feel like a chore. Regardless of size, age, and past medical history, you can be as healthy as you deserve. If you're having a hard time reaching your fitness goals on your own, a fitness coach can give you a push.

Next Steps:

1. Book a call with me and let's create a plan to get your health and fitness on track together.

2. Download my Easy Start Exercise Guide

3. Join my Free Facebook Community

Categories: Move